This week, after a one-point win over the Patriots, Lewis was at it again.

Via 105.7 The Fan in Baltimore, Lewis complained about a penalty called on safety Ed Reed for hitting New England receiver Deion Branch in the head while defenseless. The penalty fueled a drive that resulted in a field goal that extended the Patriots’ fourth-quarter lead to nine.

“He turned his head to the side and clearly hit him with his shoulder pad,” Lewis said. “Those things cannot affect the way this game is played. And then the saddest part about it is when you hear other people say, ‘Oh, those are the rules.’ For real? That’s not the rules. The rules of this game is, ‘Do whatever you gotta do, by any means necessary.'”

It would be easy to crack a joke right here, but Ray’s ignorance of the rules is alarming. Does no one in the Ravens organization explain these rules to the players? Or does coach John Harbaugh show them a Saturday night Power Point presentation that says, “The rules are there ain’t no rules”? Or has Ray simply delivered and/or received too many helmet-to-helmet hits of his own?

Lewis has been playing the game long enough to know better. And when it comes to the hit applied by Reed to Branch, Lewis ignores the fact that Reed hit Branch in the helmet. Defenseless players can’t be hit with a helmet or in the head/neck area. While helmet-to-helmet hits are a subset of the forbidden types of contact against defenseless players, a forearm, elbow, shoulder, midsection, etc. to the head of a defenseless player should always trigger a flag.

Making Ray’s rant even less persuasive is the fact that folks are now pointing (incorrectly, we believe) to the absence of flags on key helmet-to-helmet hits like the one against Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay as evidence that the replacements are jeopardizing the safety of players. First, the regular officials often misses calls like that. Second, the league office doesn’t miss them, dishing out five-figure fines on the following Friday.

But reason and logic and common sense don’t matter. As explained earlier this morning, the tipping point has been reached regarding the officiating lockout. Ray’s remarks — nonsensical as they may be — capture the mood of the fans, from hardcore to casual. The NFL needs to get this worked out, or the fans will soon be voting with their wallets and their eyeballs.

87 responses to “Ray Lewis rants about replacements, again”

Considering the only thing Reed hit him with was his shoulder pad, this article is the only thing that’s nonsense. That game was crazy, and even as a Ravens fan I have to say that neither team had a good experience with the officiating. At some point defenders need a little leeway, if you come in with your shoulder pad and the receiver tries to fall to the ground before the hit, there’s a chance he’s going to get hit in the helmet, which any way you look at it is legal. The issue is helmet to helmet, which didn’t happen.

actually it’s time to suspend Ed Reed, this guy has been getting away with more “questionable” hits than anybody in the game. by the way i am not in favor of the hitting regulations but if they’re using them, enforce them.

That was a clear penalty on that play, however, Ray is overlooking the fact that the Ravens benefited more on the ineptitude of the replacement refs. That game was brutal from an officiating standpoint.

Right…voting with their eyes and wallets!! This weekend had some of the best football in ages. You are dreaming if you think that viewers are going to walk from this action. And this coming from a Viking fan whose team almost became a major victim of the ineptitude. Guess what, I’m watching again on Sunday!

Here is one question, what do you do about offensive players leading with their helmet? You always see rb’s or wr’s dive over piles, what is a defensive player expected to do to prevent guys from getting that extra yardage?

Ed Reeds hit will get a fine, but what was he to do? Branch started to lower his head to protect himself ,so that led to Reed hitting him higher. You cant fault Branch, but if Branch stayed upright Reed would have hit him across the chest.

Goodell’s greed continues to make a mockery of the sport. Players (Webb) who are saying they honestly don’t even know what’s legal/illegal anymore, missed calls, blown calls, no consistency in the calls…

Might be time for me to focus a bit more on the EPL than the NFL at this point. Even with the diving, there’s less frustration.

Writer needs to learn the rules. Reed hit him with a shoulder pad and his arms. Branch was lowering his head. That is not a defenseless receiver. I guess because it was Tom Brady and the Patriots and they needed a first down…that must be the ruling.

It wasn’t the refs that allowed the Pats to march down the field as if they were playing against a Div. 2 college defense. The only thing I’ve learned about football is that just about everything the pundits say is wrong.

Ray is right again….Do you think Tom Brady is right. You know..the guy with a skirt on looking to fall down all over the field. Then he does and Haloti can’t help but fall over him..Then the Wuss gets up and screams foul. Then Logan Mankins head butts, but the Ravens get the penalty….Just like last year against the Redskins. The Wuss in Chief screams about Roughing and gets an undeserved roughing penalty to win the game.

Not a big Ray Lewis fan I take it? What you say may even be true, but the lack of respect for one of the games historical elites as as appauling as you say his lack of knowledge. Glass houses counselor, glass houses.

Yeah if the receiver sees the hit about to happen their instinct is to curl up and brace for it. While curling up they bring their heads down right into the tacklers shoulder/helmet… Defenseless is when the receiver has no idea the hit is coming and the defender aims high/launches into the head area. Anyone who has played football knows its just going to naturally happen sometimes. So to be fined, penalized, and/or suspended must freaking suck when you know it was just a play that naturally happened. 22 200-300 lb guys running 4.3-5.0 forty speeds is going to result in violent collisions, so of them completely accidental.

Here is a conspiracy theory for you all. Maybe the scabs are trying to help the real officials by sucking really bad. The only way the real officials can win the negotiations is by these scabs being incompetant. That’s the way they are performing too. Like incompetent buffoons. I really didn’t think it was that hard to officiate and I thought the scabs would get better but it seems like they are getting worse (some of the crews, not all of them). They are inconsistent with the way they call things, they have no control over the game, don’t seem to understand rules and overall seem very incompetent. So maybe the best explanation for why they are as horrible as they are is that they are in cohoots with the real officials. I half-heartedly believe this but it may be possible because I also have a hard time believing officials could be this bad.

“Making Ray’s rant even less persuasive is the fact that folks are now pointing (incorrectly, we believe) to the absence of flags on key helmet-to-helmet hits like the one against Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay as evidence that the replacements are jeopardizing the safety of players. First, the regular officials often misses calls like that. Second, the league office doesn’t miss them, dishing out five-figure fines on the following Friday.”

Or the hits on Fred Davis and London Fletcher in the Redskins-Rams game. Fines don’t affect the scoreboard so for some teams that argument doesn’t wash. They’re obviously more than willing to pay the fines if it helps get wins on the board.

If you think Branch was defensely, then you’re blind or a Pats fan. If you have the time to drop your body to the ground (which he did) to try to avoid the hit, you’re not defensely. You’ve reestablished yourself as an aware player.

The fact is Branch ducked and Reed did as Ray said, turned his head to the side to avoid the helmet to helmet. He DID avoid the helmet to helmet and hit Branch with his shoulder pad, but since Branch ducked and the shoulder pad hit Branch in the head which is a penalty and will probably (though wrongly) draw a fine from the NFL as well though it was obvious Reed wasn’t vicious or malicious.

I say again that these fines on plays where a player isn’t showing a blatant disregard for the rules is silly.

Ray knows the rules and for the most part plays within them. Last year, his hit on Dustin Keller was shown by the NFL as “how you hit.” Ray’s “Any means necessary” is just talking in ‘mans man’ language without getting into specifics. The calling by the refs in last night’s game and many of the games was horrible. Boycotting only makes sense if you have a Neissen ratings box which I don’t anymore. But if I did…I probably still couldn’t boycott. Sorry Mike Carey.

I’ve seen good and bad calls, no different than the regular refs. The biggest difference I’ve seen is these guys let them play football and don’t give special consideration and the benefit of the doubt to the prima donna’s like Brady. Keep them!

I’ll preface this by saying, I’m a Pats fan – and I get the people saying Brady is a whiner and gets all the calls, I sort of think that too – BUT – the refs did miss a call in the 1st quarter – Ed Reed put his forearm to Julian Edelman’s head and thwacked him to the ground – no call there – I’m just pointing it out… Both teams got their share of bad calls and/or no calls.

And then calling the Patriots Prima Donnas. Last I remember Branch jumped right up and patted Reed on the helmet for a good hit. None of the Patriots complained about that hit. Stop Blaming the Patriots and put the real Blame where it belongs. ON the Officials and the NFL

Ray Lewis is an idiot. The rules are clear. If you go for the head of a defenseless player, it is a penalty. Doesn’t matter if it is with your helmet or your cleats.

As for the illegal hit on DHB, the refs missed several obvious def. holding and pass int. calls against Pitt (as well as a late hit on QB against Oak) earlier in the game. That sends a message to the defense that they can get away with anything. And don’t try to tell me the real refs would not have called those.

I was solidly behind the replacements in that they were just that, thrown in as replacements. Gave them benefit of the doubt. However, it has deteriorated to the point the games are screwed up with delays, confusion, etc. Thought maybe they would over time get better but that’s not happening in the games I saw.

If that game doesn’t get the replacements off the field, I don’t know what will – the officiating was absolutely atrocious, worst I have seen so far this year. It affected both teams about equally, but still had a major impact on the game.

Man!! There sure are alot of whinny pissed off steelers and patriots fans on here this morning. Guess that win last night really touched a nerve. Just a recap for you sad pathetic excuses for fans, The ravens 2-1, the pats and steelers 1-2. Maybe pittsburgh can ship some of those crying towels north to foxboro.

The refs were horrible against the Ravens last week in Philly – but that was skipped over / not discussed until the beloved Patriots saw the refs make some bad calla. But btw it went both ways so quit crying. Ravens won, pats lost. Soak it up New England

What ever happened to tackling. I love this sport more than any other, but unfortunately it’s the same sports media that encouraged and glorified this head-hunting, was shocked and horrified when the bounty hunting was exposed, and is all of a sudden alarmed and concerned over the number of long-term illnesses from head injuries. The NFL is not innocent in this either. They could have put a stop to the head-hunting early on. Instead, they took the network/nike money. Anybody else see the similarities with baseball and roids. Both leagues knew what was going on but pretended they didn’t, because the money was flowing in. They’re riding the wave. In terms of how the game is played, baseball hasn’t changed. That won’t be the case for football.

Let me preface this by saying I am a fan of neither of these teams……………It actually was a shoulder hit, albeit to the WR head. I hate that call because Reed tried to drive his shoulder into an upright Branch, but Branch, sensing the hit drops down and Reeds target area is now the head instead of the body/shoulder area. This is what Waterboy Lynch always used to complain about, and I agree 100%.

The game moves so fast. If a wide received catches a ball, his first intinct is to catch it then lower his body to the ground as quick as possible. When they do that, a defender who’s trying to tackle them will hit them in the head, depending on the angle.

I agree that the head to head hits are dangerous and should be minimized, but SOMETIMES, those collisions can’t be helped.

If a defensive player AIMS for the head or uses his forearm to purposely hit a defensless receiver in the head that’s one thing. But every single head to head collision is NOT done on purpose.

Well, Ray. They didn’t flag Reed for his other hit to the head on Edelman in the second quarter so there’s that. The refs completely changed the tone of this game with 3 crap calls: the Gronk hold, the Edelman offensive PI, and the Mayo Defensive PI none of them were penalties and it turned what should have been at worst a 13-0 lead with the Patriots getting the ball after a 3 and out to the Ravens extending their drive. The refs did it again later on the McCourty hold that got them out of what should have been 3rd and 15. I felt like I was watching the NBA.

Lewis for all his toughness on the field, is one of the league’s biggest cry babies afterwards. This now makes two weeks in a row where he is crying about calls the refs got right. (last week he was crying about the refs overturning a fumble called against Michael Vick and correctly ruling it a completion).

hey Ray, if not an illegal hit to the head, any explanation why Reed went up to Branch after to shake his hand?

Refs were brutal last night, but for Lewis as a supposed leader to single out that call out of everything (in a game they won, and in a game where the bad calls that impacted the game were more in favor of the other team) is just absurd. I’d suggest someone call him out on it, but i know everyone is afraid of him.

Yep… rules making it flag football. I cant believe all these rules for player safety the nfl has instituted over the last 20 years. I mean, we all know they dont care about player safety, but these rules for player safety are stupid.

Does anyone in here know the rules? You are not allowed to target the head. That is exactly what happened. People are saying, “what was he supposed to do?” How about instead of trying to forearm shiver receivers, opening your arms and hitting and wrapping? That is how tackling has always been taught. Tackling fundamentals are terrible which is why people are getting hurt. And if we want to talk cry babies, let’s talk about the Ravens debacle in ’07 where Bart Scott threw a pylon into the stands and the Ravens whined about the officials for years afterwards. It was a terribly officiated game that wound up being a great game nonetheless. I have a feeling we will see those two teams playing again in January.

I completely disagree with Ray’s assessment of the hit. I don’t know if the hit was meant to be dirty, but Branch didn’t lower down, infact he was slightly elevated and Ed Reed still put his shoulder into his head. Ed Reed didn’t do anything to avoid striking branch in the head. It was not helmet to helmet, but it definitely was a blow to the helmet. Ray should be upset that the Ravens may have been handed a free win, that we now know, not all scoring plays are reviewable.

If defenders want to stop getting fined and penalized for these hits then they need to start wrapping up and tackling instead of going for the kill shot. Defenders need to start getting in position to make plays on the ball rather than playing the receiver. I think it sucks but it is a reality of the game. And people need to put the blame where it belongs. This was brought on by the concussion lawsuit. The former players suing the league are responsible for this. They forced the NFL to have to crack down on unecessary hitting. And those hits are unnecessary to play the game of football. They add excitement to the game and give bad defenders a way to make up for being out of position but they can be highly detrimental to the player taking the hit. I mean watch the play on Heywar-Bey, he was freaking knocked out by that type of hit.

There are no more childish fans in all of sports than Raven fans. Just looks at the chants. If you are a person of any respect, you would never take your child to a Raven game. Those people in that city are out of control. It is only matter of time until some in really hurt there. They def need more police there. The are just classless.

Were ttwo helmet-to-helmet hits on Branch called against Reed? Because I must have been witnessing a different one than being described. Not only was Branch not defenseless, but as Reed was approaching for the tackle Branch lowered his helmet into Reed’s and initiated the H2H contact. Kinda ridiculous that a play where the H2H is caused by the receiver lowering his head to meet the defender’s results in a penalty and a fine on Reed, and I’m not even a fan of either team.

I’m a Pats fan and I’ll admit I’m probably a bit of a homer, but I’m sick and tired of critical plays during the course of the game getting flagged. I swear – last week, an entire TD run was called back on a phantom holding call which would have sealed the game for the Patriots. This week, the final two Ravens drives were extended or enhanced by at least three major penalties. oh – and completely unrelated to the final plays of the game — calling for a measurement when you’re clearly an ENTIRE YARD SHORT? These are just the ones that went against the Pats… the ones that went against the Ravens were just as bad. I mean seriously… unsportsmanlike conduct on a coach at that point in a game? Also, the call that Brady got was ridiculous. I don’t blame him for trying to get it, but seriously, I can’t imagine any of the normal refs throwing a flag on that. Maybe this is my perception – but I feel like these referees were a bit intimidated by the players/coaches and are trying way too hard to assert themselves. I can’t stand when the officials become part of the game. Get the old referees back – these people have no clue what they’re doing.

ravenator says:
Sep 24, 2012 9:55 AM
The refs were horrible against the Ravens last week in Philly – but that was skipped over / not discussed until the beloved Patriots saw the refs make some bad calla. But btw it went both ways so quit crying. Ravens won, pats lost. Soak it up New England

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Ok guy we get it. How many times are you going to make the same comment today? “Soak it up” that’s funny coming from the biggest crybaby Ravens fan on PFT!

If that field goal was 6 inches the other way you would be the first one on here crying about getting screwed by the officials. Or you would hide for a week like you did last week after talking all that shiz to the Eagles fans then hiding for a week after your team lost.

Gotta love the Ravens fans calling another fan base “crybabies”, hell this is a thread about a Ravens player crying about the officials!

I understand that most of the writers on this website and most of the fans on this website don’t like the Ravens, but who are you to disrespect arguably the greatest defensive player to ever step on the field like that? Just lost a lot of respect for this website, not that I had much to begin with.

When Ray-Ray says “the rules of this game is, ‘Do whatever you gotta do, by any means necessary’” what he means is, that is the attitude you have to have to make it in the NFL. He is not ignorant of the rule changes, he just refuses to acknowledge them. The only ignorance in this situation, is Florio’s ignorance regarding the true meaning of Ray-Ray’s staement, and Florio’s skirt-wearing perspective on the game.

logicalthinkersays says:
Sep 24, 2012 9:01 AM
A whiny Baltimorian? I’d be a millionaire if I got a nickel for everytime I’ve ran into one of those.
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The correct term is actually Baltimoron, not Baltimorian.

If you’d be a millionaire at 5 cents each, that’d mean you’ve run into 20 million Baltimorons and that’s quite a few.

Ravens had more beneficial incorrect calls at the end of the game than the Pats that helped them win it. McCourty got called for a hold or pass interference when he didn’t do ANYthing. Collinsworth’s reaction was the best.

“jbraider says:
As for the illegal hit on DHB, the refs missed several obvious def. holding and pass int. calls against Pitt (as well as a late hit on QB against Oak) earlier in the game. That sends a message to the defense that they can get away with anything. And don’t try to tell me the real refs would not have called those.”
____________________________________

Though Pit DB’s were holding receivers virtually every play, what you fail to realize is that the “real refs” would have flagged us for 15 invisible penalties this game instead of the 5(?) real penalties these guys called.
I’ll take these guys any day.

‘Making Ray’s rant even less persuasive is the fact that folks are now pointing (incorrectly, we believe) to the absence of flags on key helmet-to-helmet hits like the one against Raiders receiver Darrius Heyward-Bay as evidence that the replacements are jeopardizing the safety of players.’

Incorrectly, we believe? Seriously Florio? You’re pathetic…that was a vicious and illegal hit from yet another cheap shot Stooler…the regular refs would never miss that call and flag it all day long.

Let’s see how you react when your little junior takes a shot like that…bet you change your tune then.

I just really wish people would learn the rules before they comment. There are multiple penalties being discussed here and it isn’t just helmet to helmet contact…and no matter how you slice it, these replacement refs suck! The NFL needs to suck it up and pay the professionals what they deserve and get them back on the field!

subliminal message….”The fans will soon vote with their wallets.”….”The fans will soon vote with their wallets.” Maybe if the media keeps saying it enought it will happen…..NOT !!

One again…the replacement officials have NOTHING to do with player safety. Just like the regular officials don’t. They throw the flag AFTER the play. They don’t anticipate the illegal hit and jump in front of Ed Reed’s and take the hit in place of the offensive player!!

I am well aware the replacement officials are not that great. But they also aren’t as bad as the media wants them to be. The NFLRA needs to make some “realistic” contract requests – and maybe they can resolve this.

Regardless – guess what. I’ll continue to watch EVERY game – until they come back or they don’t !

The whole 2012 season is going to have an asterisk. Games have no integrity. Results are becoming meaningless. Win-Loss Records are tainted by incompetent officiating. Nobody is accountable for the errors.

The owners need to swallow their pride and give the real refs what they want.
If this goes on maybe the players need to refuse to play until this gets fixed? Players,coaches , fans and owners have no respect for these clowns. And they are anything but funny!

This season is quickly becoming a sad travesty. Pathetic. Nobody has any respect for these refs.
They do not know NFL rules and cannot control the games. The integrity of the game is at stake.
Rampant chaos is running riot.

It doesn’t matter if he’s right about the rules, Ray is right about the officiating. And that’s coming from a Steelers fan. I’m not going to whine about any game or call in particular because the bad calls are hitting all the teams. It’s embarrassing for a league that claims to value the integrity of the game. This should have been resolved before the season started.

They complain about a good field goal not being reviewed…Yet…last years AFC game with Lee Evans in End Zone was never reviewed, and caused the field goal team to run out on the field? How many games have we watched 40-3 that they review everything..Yet…The Patriots benefit from no review in the AFC title game, and no complaints? I think God is evening things up.

Hurrah for the Replacement Refs…I think Goodall is enforcing term limits on the Refs because the regulars and their Union were on the take for the Patriots.

Most times a WR ducks his head down to the ground. In this case, Brady led him into Ed Reed. Ed did not lounge…He did not lead with his head, but his shoulder. It is impossible for Ed to hit anything but his head. Brady should not have exposed Branch that way. Terrible call….But for the Patriot fans that are used to getting all the calls to win a game…I can see why you are upset.

It cracks me up to see people posting in regards to the officiating that they’re going to stop watching NFL altogether. To those: Please, child! You’re not going anywhere! You’ll keep watching if for no other reason so you can pick apart the replacement refs. Sure, the quality of the replacements is nowhere close to the real refs, but it’s not going to drive anyone away from the NFL.

I wouldn’t cry too much, the replacements gave you that game on the FG that was no good. And regarding the hit on Branch, Al & Chris both said it was a good call. Not to mention the one he got away with earlier in the game where he got the guy straight in the face mask with the crown of his helmet and they did not call that.

“They complain about a good field goal not being reviewed…Yet…last years AFC game with Lee Evans in End Zone was never reviewed, and caused the field goal team to run out on the field? How many games have we watched 40-3 that they review everything..Yet…The Patriots benefit from no review in the AFC title game, and no complaints? I think God is evening things up.”

The Patriots were looking to review a scoring play… based on the everything that came out today it seems that a field goal that passes over an upright is the only scoring play in the NFL that is non renewable. The Ravens last year were looking to review something that wasn’t a scoring play (ruled no catch on the field means there was no score). That still doesn’t excuse the fact that your kicker and special teams people weren’t ready to run out for the kick. I still blame the coaching staff for that. Also hasn’t nearly a year of replays shown you that it was in fact a drop… when the booth officials see clearly that there is no reason to buzz the ref, they don’t do it to slow down the game, or setup you field goal unit (which should have been ready).

Secondly, Heyward-Bey was never hit in the helmet. The whiplash is what caused him to be out cold. He had a neck strain. The concussion came from second impact and hitting the field with his helmet as he was out cold before he hit the ground.

Thirdly, Joe Mays’ hit on Schaub was not dirty EITHER. You cats complain about how the NFL is becoming soft all the time, but are taking the bait hook line and sinker when none of these three plays violated the rules.

It was a legal hit. Ed used his shoulder pad. First off, I am a proponent of the new rules that protect players. But the defenseless receiver calls have gotten out of hand. What are defensive secondary players supposed to do these days? Let the receiver hang on to the ball, make the catch, and take two steps before they attempt to tackle them? It’s gotten to the point where defensive backs can’t hit receivers in an effort to dislodge the ball and not allow a completed catch.

I thought for sure the refs were going to throw a flag on Reed’s legal hit in the endzone which broke up a TD. Luckily they didn’t. BOTH teams got hosed by lousy calls last night.